Journal of Business, Economics and Management Research Studies

Audit Committee Attributes as Determinants of Financial Reporting Scandals among Firms Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange

2026-04-14T14:01:54+00:00

Despite the adoption of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Corporate Governance Code (2015), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and strengthened corporate governance reforms, financial reporting scandals continue to persist among companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), undermining investor confidence and weakening the credibility of Kenya’s capital markets. Imperial Bank, CMC Holdings, Uchumi Supermarkets, Chase Bank are just some of the high-profile firms that had been exposed in scandals that point to common audit oversight and financial governance shortcomings. The current work conducted studies the individual audit committee attributes and their effect on the financial reporting scandals with emphasis on the Kenyan context, as other pieces of work focus on the audit committee attributes individually. The study thus looked at the influence of the audit committee attributes on financial reporting scandals in NSE listed companies in Kenya. In particular, the study examined the impact of the composition of the audit committee (independence, financial expertise, committee size, and frequency of committee meetings) on financial reporting scandals. Agency Theory and Fraud Diamond Theory were used as the theoretical underpinning for the study. The research design used is the explanatory research design and the data used for the research work is the primary data which was collected from the Finance officers, internal auditors and company secretaries of the 62 listed companies on NSE as at February 2025. The hypotheses were tested by using bivariate regression analysis. The results indicated that audit committee independence (β = −2.38, p < 0.01), financial expertise (β = −1.74, p < 0.05), and frequency (β = −0.62, p < 0.05) of audit committee meetings significantly decreased the odds of financial reporting scandal, and audit committee size did not have a statistically significant impact. The regression model accounted for 37.2% of the variation in the occurrence of financial reporting scandals (R² = 0.372), suggesting that the audit committee attributes are important predictors of financial reporting integrity in NSE-listed companies. The study finds that substantive audit committee quality specifically independence and financial expertise is important in enhancing financial reporting integrity in emerging markets. The findings have implications for the literature on corporate governance as the authors attempt to add Agency Theory and Fraud Diamond Theory in weak institutional setting, while the policy implications cover the audit committee composition and corporate governance reforms for the CMA, NSE, ICPAK, and corporate boards in Kenya.

Does Participatory Implementation Ensure Sustainability? Assessing the Efficacy of Post-M&E Functions in South Sudan’s DHAPP Project, Juba, South Sudan

2026-06-26T10:07:08+00:00

Despite decades of investment in participatory monitoring and evaluation (M&E) across development sectors, evidence remains inconclusive regarding whether stakeholder involvement in implementation-phase activities actually ensures project sustainability, particularly in fragile, donor-dependent contexts where participation may become ritualized rather than empowered. Although existing literature has extensively examined community participation in project planning and implementation, the distinct contributions of post-M&E functions remain theoretically underdeveloped and empirically understudied, especially within post-conflict health systems. This study addresses this gap by investigating the effects of participatory M&E in implementation and post-M&E functions on the sustainability of the Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) in Juba, South Sudan, a setting characterized by extreme aid dependence, weak institutional infrastructure, and cyclical political instability. The study was guided by an integrated theoretical framework drawing on Resource Dependence Theory and Institutional Theory. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, combining quantitative survey data from 162 program beneficiaries with qualitative semi-structured interviews from 8 key informants. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The results revealed that participatory post-M&E functions demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship with project sustainability (β = .190, p = .015), though the effect size was small (R² = .036). In contrast, PM&E in implementation showed no significant association with sustainability (β = .114, p = .150), despite high descriptive ratings (M = 4.32, SD = 0.84). The multiple regression model was significant overall (F(3, 158) = 8.42, p < .001, R² = .138), yet neither participatory dimension remained significant when controlling for the other, suggesting shared variance capturing a general participatory climate. Qualitative analysis identified embeddedness of data collection routines, capacity constraints in analytical functions, and the primacy of learning and adaptation through monthly data review meetings as core thematic areas. Participatory M&E alone cannot overcome structural barriers to sustainability in donor-dependent fragile states. Program designers should prioritize genuine design-phase co-creation, address implementation-phase capacity gaps, and institutionalize post-M&E learning systems, while simultaneously advocating for diversified funding and progressive transition planning.